Title: Angelus Erroneous: Fabricati Diem

Author: Spike

Chapter: Eleven

For the moment, Bishop seemed satisfied with the thought his lecture has had an inspiring effect on all of us. This was evident in his anger subsiding and the muscles in his face relaxing.

He looked over his shoulder to see Xerxes get to his feet – convinced the Rogue Trader could still be useful (after all, he had only been inflicted with a minor injury) Bishop clasped his fingers and cracked his knuckles.

"All right" he grinned "Let's get to work

Jessie! Narc! Xerxes! Secure the area! Deacon! I want you with me"

Immediately, the three of us darted in three separate directions, to take up positions around the downed Wave Serpent.
I headed off northwards from the crash site. I had gone several feet before I dived behind the cover of a large tree trunk, my twin bolt pistols in each hand and ready to deal with anything I considered a threat.

After all, we don't want any Orks wandering here and ruining our little discovery now, do we?

I looked back over my shoulder at the rest of my comrades. Both Xerxes and Jessie had taken up similar positions on either side of the crash site – both behind trees some feet away from the craft itself

This was a routine movement- we had the experience of doing this type of thing after raiding many ruined objects such as this.

Jessie had her beloved sword in one hand and a laspistol in the other. Being a specialist in hand to hand combat, it was indeed an infrequent occurrence to see her use the laspistol. Her usual battle tactics was to hunt down the Orks using whatever cover she could find (hardly difficult in a jungle planet such as this) and slice them to pieces with her sword. She used this tactic time and time again and it has never failed her in the past. As such she didn't get much use out of her laspistol – she only had one because Bishop insisted that she need it.

But her preference was the sword and nothing else. At the moment she had her sword raised up next to her face – which she then gently rested the flat edge of the blade across her cheek. She then slowly ran the blade across her cheek, her eyes closed and her mouth deformed with an emotion that suggested pure ecstasy.

I shrugged – this was a ritual she did before combat. For some reason she did this but I could never work what it signified.

But Jessie wasn't my concern – for my gaze then went to Xerxes.

Despite being recently inflicted with an injury, he had taken up his position without any difficulty. He currently leaned, with his back against the tree, his lasgun in hand and his eyes and ears open, ready to deal with any threat that dared come.

Of course, the wound didn't look like much. From I saw of Bishop's handling of the knife, the blade didn't go too deeply into the flesh and it was most likely that the scar may eventually heal within the goodness of time. If it does turn out to leave a scar then at least it would give the Rogue Trader an appearance that was tougher then before.

And besides, having a scar would always give Xerxes a source to base more incredible stories of his 'exploits' around.

But that wasn't the part I was worried about – The expression on his face was peculiar mixture of apprehension, unease and fright. If his face was anything to go by, it seemed that his mind had collapsed into a state of complete shock.

Whilst the damage to his face may have been minimal, the main concern is the effect that altercation between Bishop and himself may have had on Xerxes' mind.

Naturally, it was utterly insane to send him into a combat situation with his mind in such a state. Any solider knows that being in combat such as this would affect his ability to function and may ultimately make him useless in the heat of combat.

It was any wonder why Bishop still thought he was still useful in holding a lasgun let alone aiming it and pulling the trigger.

But then again, it should come to no surprise considering that Our Fearless Leader considers the priority of his orders being followed greater then the priority of his underling's well being.

However being a soldier, I can tell you that a degree of trust has to be established between you and everyone else. After all, you don't want to be stuck in a position of danger and without anyone else to bail you out.

Yet considering that Xerxes' reliability is currently in a state that can only be described as questionable – as such I would need to look out for him as much as I would need to look out for my own skin.

And once again, he has become a liability to me.

Now how many times would that make it? The 89,573,483,903rd time?

Nevertheless, I looked back across to the crashed Wave Serpent itself.

Laertes was still nowhere to be seen so it's fair to say that he is still sulking.

That the moment, however, both Deacon and Bishop were still standing around the crash. Both were holding cylindrical object in their hands.

Being appointed our best weapons expert also gave Deacon the privilege of handling the group's store of explosives. Being of such a short supply, we never used them that much except in cases like this, when we need something large and heavy blown up.

Although being several feet from the crash site, I was still able to pick up on what these two were discussing.

"So care to explain what this?' Bishop was saying, as he held up one of the many cylindrical objects in Deacon's possession.

"It's a standard issue Imperial grenade" came the reply.

"What type?"

"Melta bomb?"

Our Fearless Leader's face immediately grew suspicious.

"Where did you get this?"

What happened next was disarming to say the least – Deacon's face grew wearied with unease.

"I got it…from…….."

Bishop must have guessed what he was thinking for his face immediately grew angry.

"You got it from the Wrath-bringer, didn't you?"

To this, Deacon nodded silently.

Our Fearless Leader groaned his annoyance.

"I had a rule going that we only used that to get off this planet" he said "I didn't recall saying anything about going into it to find something in the way of using something to salvage it."

"I only found it when you arrived here" Deacon replied "I took it from your store when you weren't looking"

If he was still in the Imperial Guard, Bishop most likely would've dealt with such insolence with either a punch to the face or, worse still, a draw of the pistol followed by a bullet to the head (Not the best way to get things done but Bishop has some serious issues with discipline)

But considering that he's one of six humans on this planet, he wouldn't have done that type of thing because he considers them all too valuable to lose.

Even if he does harbour some sort of contempt for such underlings.

"And you've kept it all this time?" Our Fearless Leader asked.

Deacon nodded.

Bishop sighed.

"Well just hand it over and we'll never speak of it again"

My gaze hardened – he's letting the bastard get off scot-free?! This type of thing would never happen should myself, Xerxes, Jessie or Laertes do anything Bishop considered insolent (the mark left upon Xerxes' cheek is proof enough of that).

I guess Bishop considers Deacon, with his muscle, his heavy Stubber and his know-how of arms and armaments the most useful and the most essential member in this group of idiots.

Or most likely he too is wary about the possibility, and the consequences, of getting someone of Deacon's size and strength upset.

Suddenly, both Deacon and Bishop got their feet and sprinted several feet away from the wreck.

"Fire in the Hold!" Our Fearless Leader shouted.

This was his way of ordering us away from any explosion or bomb detonation (God-Emperor knows why he felt it necessary to utter such a dumb phrase).

Seconds later, the crashed Eldar Wave Serpent was rocked by a massive explosion that sent shockwaves through the jungle. Within seconds, the ground rumbled beneath my feet and clouds of both dust and dirt billowed past. The trunks of nearby trees shook, sending leaves tumbling from their boroughs.

I kept my head down, waiting for the noise to die down. Somehow, I also managed to keep my balance and stay on my feet.

I grit my teeth and kept my pistols within a tight grip – any Ork for miles would've seen such an explosion of such magnitude (or at least felt it) and wouldn't stop short of running over to investigate.

Eventually everything settled – all that could be heard was the type smoke that could have only come from scorched metal.

My senses kept on watch, ready to detect any intrusion and well-prepared to take any action necessary……

But even as I kept watch, I could hear two pairs of feet returning to the crash site.

I didn't turn my head but I could tell that Bishop and Deacon were already returning, no doubt quite keen on examining what secrets the Wave Serpent had contained within.

"Well, that certainly was incredible sight" Bishop said – judging by his voice, he seemed to be letting his enthusiasm take over.

This certainly was a rare occurrence – I can't honestly say I know Bishop for his enthusiasm.

What a pity I couldn't see it…..

"Do you think it worked?" Deacon replied in his distinctive rumble.

"Only one way to find out"

"Understood"

This then prompted a growl (on Deacon's part) before being followed up with a grinding of twisted metal.

I shot a quick glance over my shoulder – Deacon was prying open the hatch with an iron rod (he always kept one on him for situations like this).

My gaze hardened. Considering the amount of effort he was putting into it, it made me wonder why Bishop wasn't using his bionic arm to open the hatch. It's not like that would be any trouble whatsoever in using such a piece machinery to overcome such an obstruction.

But then again, Bishop used to be an officer in the Imperial Guard. And if there is one thing any commander understands is the principle of why bother doing anything when you can get some unfortunate bastard to do it for you.

Besides, I suppose it's kind of amusing to see Deacon putting his back into something useful.

Eventually, with squealing of metal, the hatch came free from the body of the ship. Bishop's face adopted an expression of raw, unabridged eagerness. He then looked up from the ship.

"Everyone!" he yelled "Over here! On the double!"

Immediately, myself, Xerxes and Jessie came hurrying over.

Within seconds, we had all assembled at the hatch (apart from Laertes who, as far as I knew, was still sulking). I cast a brief glimpse into the ship from the hatch opening but instead of seeing a sample of the bizarre Eldar technology, I was confronted instead with mass of pitch blackness.

Then, Bishop began issuing orders:

"Deacon! Xerxes! You're with me. Narc! Jessie! Cover our rear"

He then reached for his belt and pulled out a glow-tube. Activating it, he headed into the darkness, followed by Xerxes and Deacon.

This was typical of such a raid: Bishop relied on them both because, as far as he was concerned, they both had the best knowledge of the universe in the group. Deacon for his knowledge of countless weapons and Xerxes for his understanding of alien cultures and objects.

However considering that Xerxes isn't really a Rogue Trader, it was times like these that made me wonder whether or not Bishop was aware of this fact. Experience had taught me that Xerxes was gifted with a tongue that was quite effective at convincing anyone with anything. As such he was able to identify any alien object that Bishop presented him with – But as far as I knew, Xerxes was merely lying his way through such sticky situations. I knew the 'Rogue Trader' enough to say that when presented with such an object he would just make any nonsense up. And considering that he was our 'best expert on alien cultures', it was likely that we would use, say, the navigation system of an Imperial battle cruiser with the misguided belief that it was an explosive.

However it was fortunate that Bishop had enough faith in him to take Xerxes' word as the truth.

Well some may call it faith but I call it gullibility.

Still even if we did use something under the deluded belief that it was an explosive, I guess it would only come as problem should it fail to blow something up.

But for the moment, that idiot Rogue Trader is hardly my concern – instead I have a job to do in the form of watching out of any Orks.

No doubt there may be some already on their way, drawn by that explosion…..